September is National Preparedness Month

September is National Preparedness Month. This awareness month is sponsored by the Ready Campaign in partnership with Citizen Corps and the Ad Council. National Preparedness Month is designed to encourage Americans to take simple steps to prepare for emergencies in their homes, businesses, and communities.

The Ready Campaign is a national public service advertising campaign sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in partnership with the Advertising Council. This campaign is designed to educate and empower Americans to prepare for and respond to emergencies including natural and man-made disasters. The goal of the campaign is to get the public involved and ultimately to increase the level of basic preparedness across the nation.

National Preparedness Month (NPM) is held each September to encourage Americans to take simple steps to prepare for emergencies in their homes, businesses, and communities. September 2010 is the seventh annual NPM. This year's focus is on encouraging Americans to work together to take concrete actions toward emergency preparedness. All Americans are being encouraged to join the readiness team and truly help themselves, their neighbors, and their communities be Ready.

National Preparedness Month Coalition membership is open to all public and private sector organizations. Groups can register to become an NPM Coalition Member by visiting http://www.ready.gov/ and clicking on the NPM banner. In 2009, nearly 2,700 organizations joined the Ready Campaign in promoting the readiness message across the country in homes, schools, businesses, and communities to highlight the importance of individual and community public emergency preparedness throughout September. As of last Friday (13 August), 2,807 national, regional, state and local organizations have signed on as members of the NPM 2010 Coalition.

During National Preparedness Month, coalition members share preparedness information with their members, customers, employees, and communities. Members spearhead activities that encourage specific steps for individual, neighborhood, and community preparedness. Once an organization registers as a coalition member, it receives access to the NPM Website, which includes a toolkit with templates, resources, and tips to assist with promoting emergency preparedness.